


A Request

by ForgottenKnight



Series: Aftermath [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Coma, F/M, Feelings, Iruka is a sweetheart, Major Character Injury, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-10 03:29:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21458032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForgottenKnight/pseuds/ForgottenKnight
Summary: With Leaf Village in shambles after Orochimaru’s attack and Kakashi in a coma from his encounter with Itachi, Tsuika finds that she can’t just stand by in life anymore. She seeks out Iruka to ask a not so small request of him.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Aftermath [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1547938
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16





	A Request

Tsuika looked forlornly at Kakashi lying unresponsive in his hospital bed. He looked troubled even though he was unconscious, as if his mind was still being tormented by whatever Itachi had done to him.

It had only been a day since he’d been been moved into a private hospital room from his bed at home with the help of Guy, Asuma and Kurenai. She would never forget the shocked and confused looks she was met with when they realized that she was staying at his house when they first brought him there, unconscious and unresponsive. 

Tsuika felt utterly useless: she wasn’t a Shinobi, she didn’t have healing jutsu that could help him, and she didn’t have the first clue of how to help him. To make things worse, no one knew when or if Kakashi would wake up, and that on top of everything else made her restless and fraught with worry. 

Even though Jiraiya had left to bring Tsunade back to the village to become the next Hokage and to heal Kakashi and Sasuke, it would be a while before they returned. Before leaving he’d mentioned that he wasn’t sure exactly where she was, so he’d have to find her and convince her to come back with him, if he even could. 

One thing Tsuika did know was that she wasn’t willing to wait around until Kakashi woke up to do _ something _. Not when her home was a pile of rubble, her village tattered and leaderless, her dog now an amputee, and the person she cared for most lying in a coma. 

She stood from the chair she’d moved to Kakashi’s bedside and took his hand that was lying by his side. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Don’t wait up.” She smiled in spite of herself and gently squeezed his hand, hoping that somehow he’d feel it and be reassured that at least someone was watching out for him while he was in this state. 

Turning away from him she left his room, signed out at the hospital’s front desk and headed to the Academy.

***

She wasn’t even sure that he would be there given how busy everyone in the village was with repairs, but she also didn’t want to interrupt his class if she could help it. 

Making her way through the halls she found what she hoped was the right room. Tsuika took a steadying breath, squared her shoulders, and knocked on the door. 

“Come in,” she heard from inside. 

She slid the door open and found the classroom thankfully empty save for Iruka who was sitting at his desk looking through papers. 

“Oh, Tsuika, this is a surprise,” he said with a friendly smile. 

“I’m sure. You’re not busy are you? I can come back later if you are.”

“No it’s alright,” he said as he stood. “I needed a quick break anyway.”

Tsuika nodded and stepped into the room, sliding the door closed behind her. She tucked some hair behind her ear and approached Iruka who was leaning against his desk. 

“Where are the kids?” 

“I ended class early today.”

“Oh…” Tsuika’s confidence was starting to wane as he studied her with warm but perceptive eyes. 

“Something wrong?”

“No, not exactly. I was wondering- well I have a request to ask of you.”

“A request?”

Tsuika sighed, mentally berating herself. She wished she could be blunt like Kakashi in situations like this. “Please just… hear me out.” 

Iruka was about to respond when Tsuika knelt down in front of him with her head bowed. “What are you-”

“Please train me.”

Silence stretched between them as Iruka stared at Tsuika in shock. This was a new one for him. Most of his students were children and no one had ever come to him personally like this before. 

“I know I’m older than your usual students and I know this is unconventional, but you taught Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, all the Genin and they’ve all turned out so impressive.”

“Can I ask why?”

Tsuika focused her eyes on the floorboards, her hands clenched into fists on her knees to hide their shaking. “Orochimaru attacked this village- _ my _ village- and my home was destroyed by that monster snake he summoned. My _ dog _ lost a leg because he was in my house when that snake came crashing through the streets. Seasoned ninjas died protecting me, the Hokage, women and children, and the other people in this village while we slept, defenseless.

“And now Kakashi-” she faltered, her voice catching and her eyes stinging with tears she’d been suppressing for days. “Kakashi and Sasuke are waiting to wake up after Itachi’s sudden attack and disappearance. We have no Hokage, we need more Shinobi, the people need to feel safe and I… I need to be able to protect those that I care about. I can’t do that with how I am now.

“I’ll put in as much work as any of your students and more if I need to. I’ll sit in the back of the room and take notes, practice hand seals until my fingers cramp, or do anything you ask me to in order to learn. But _ please _, Iruka,” Tsuika said looking up at him, “train me to be a ninja.” 

Iruka nearly started at the resolve that burned in her eyes despite the tears that trailed down her cheeks. Her plea resonated in him, and her determination reminded him of Naruto’s unshakable aspiration to become Hokage. He could tell that her heart was in the right place; her desire to protect her loved ones and the village itself were almost enough for any student to achieve admission. 

While he didn’t know her as well as Kakashi did, he could see that she was strong willed and respected what the Shinobi did. She came here of her own volition, humbled herself before him and begged for his help in becoming a better, more capable version of herself. That alone took a level of strength that not everyone had. 

“Tsuika… it wouldn’t be easy.”

“I know that it would probably be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but anything that matters takes effort and I’m willing to give this everything I’ve got.” 

“You know the dangers?”

“That I could die? Of course I know that. I could die tomorrow or 30 years from now from non Shinobi related causes just as easily as I could die during a mission tomorrow or 30 years from now. That doesn’t matter. Why should I do anything less than what you, Guy, Kakashi, or any other Shinobi do for this village already?” 

She had him there. He smiled fondly at her. “Then of course I’ll train you.”

Relief flooded through Tsuika and she wiped the tears from her face. “Thank you Iruka!” She quickly got to her feet. “What do you need me to do? When can we start?”

“Slow down,” Iruka chuckled. “I appreciate your enthusiasm, but we should probably set up a plan first.”

“Oh, right.”

“I’ll tell you right now that I don’t expect you to sit in the back corner and take notes. I have all my lessons planned out so you can copy those down for yourself.”

“I can do that!”

“As for everything else, after classes or on days when I’m not teaching we’ll meet up and go over notes, Shinobi rules, taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, physical and weapons training, and how to use your chakra.” Iruka expected Tsuika’s eyes to glaze over as he listed what they’d need to cover, but with each level of training he named the spark in her eyes only grew brighter. 

“What else?” she asked, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“That’s not enough for you?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?”

Iruka held back a laugh. “You should know that there’s going to be things that I can’t teach you. I’ll have to talk to the other Jonin then and see if they’d be willing to take you on, and there’s the issue of changing ranks from Genin to Chunin and so on, but we can deal with all of that when we get there.”

“You’re already thinking that far ahead?” Tsuika gave him a grateful smile. She knew he was kind, but the fact that he already seemed to believe in her almost made her start crying again. “I’m just glad you agreed to help me at all, Iruka. I can’t thank you enough or tell you how much this means to me.”

“You don’t have to. Just be on time and do your best.”

“I will, you have my word,” she promised, pulling him into a hug. 

Iruka felt his cheeks warm in surprise to her sudden embrace, but it wasn’t unwelcome. He gently hugged her back and smiled softly to himself. He realized that she was like most of his students in her eagerness to start training, and her excitement was contagious. Iruka was looking forward to their first session together. 

“I’m still staying at Kakashi’s place while mine gets rebuilt,” Tsuika said as she pulled away from him. “When you need me I’ll either be there, helping with repairs, or visiting Kakashi in the hospital.”

“You’re staying with Kakashi?” Iruka asked.

“I- uh- Yeah. He let me stay with him after my house was destroyed,” she said, blushing. 

“That was really nice of him.”

A small smile played on Tsuika’s lips. “Yeah, it was…” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Absolutely. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep tonight.”

“You got it,” she said, waving as she left the room. 

It took all of Tsuika’s self control not to skip on her way back to Kakashi’s home. She kept replaying her conversation with Iruka over and over again in her mind, and a thrill went through her every time.

When she walked through the door, her dog, Nikko, rushed over to her surprisingly fast for having recently lost a limb. Tsuika crouched down and ruffled his fur while he licked at her face. 

“Aw, I missed you too. Hey, Nikko, guess what?”

He stared at her with his mismatched eyes, his tail wagging quickly. 

“I’m going to be a ninja!” 

Nikko barked excitedly and nearly tackled her to the ground as he jumped at her. Tsuika laughed and wrapped him up in a hug, pressing her face into his thick white fur. She couldn’t wait for the day to end so she could go to bed, wake up and start her training.

_ I’m going to be a ninja! _

  
  



End file.
